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Mayor Rob Ford is so notorious, he is dragging down the reputation of Toronto and Canada in the eyes of Americans, a new poll suggests.

A Pollara survey conducted in the U.S. and provided to the Star found almost one-third of respondents — 29 per cent – had a worse view of Toronto because of the news about Ford’s crack cocaine use and other controversies.

“It’s a black eye. It’s probably not a facial scar. It will heal,” Dan Arnold, Pollara’s associate vice-president, said Thursday.

Ten per cent of respondents said the mayor’s behaviour had actually improved their impression of Toronto, while 61 per cent said it’s had no impact.

Some 18 per cent said the story has left them with a worse view of Canada as a whole, while 9 per cent said it has improved feelings toward their northern neighbour, and 74 per cent claimed it had no effect.

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Since the Star and the U.S. website Gawker revealed the existence of a video apparently showing Ford smoking crack in May and a subsequent Toronto police probe into his links to alleged drug dealers, he has made headlines around the world.

Ford’s infamy has made him far better known in the U.S. than Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Half of Americans polled were familiar with Ford — compared with just 18 per cent for Harper, who has been in office for almost eight years.

“Definitely he is a household name in the United States, which is a rarity for Canadian politicians,” Arnold said of the Toronto mayor.

Pollara’s online survey of 1,001 Americans was conducted between Nov. 22 and Nov. 27, and results are considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Only Russian President Vladimir Putin, recognized by 64 per cent of respondents, was ahead of Ford in terms of recognition of international politicians. In comparison, only 38 per cent were familiar with British Prime Minister David Cameron, 25 per cent with former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, 21 per cent with Chinese President Xi Jinping and 16 per cent with newly elected Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Arnold said Ford has become such a staple of U.S. cable news and the nightly comedy talk shows that American television viewers know instantly who commentators are discussing.

“He’s become not just the joke, but the punch line,” the pollster said.

“Toronto’s always wanted to be ‘world-class’ and to be known by Americans. And for better or worse — and it’s probably a bit more on the worse side here — we’ve definitely become known there,” he said.

“One of the reasons Americans have taken an interest is Canada’s got this reputation for being very polite and very nice and kind of boring for our politicians, and Ford is anything but that. Because it runs counter to what Americans think about (Canada) is one reason why the story has popped there,”

The survey’s results suggest a downside to Ford’s notoriety, if American investors take note.

“This could definitely impact Toronto’s reputation and businesses,” said Arnold, adding it’s “something that people should keep an eye on.”

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